


100% jazzed

by susanowa (panickyintheuk)



Series: Inconveniences Rightly Considered [8]
Category: Ghostbusters (2016), Marvel Adventures (Comics), Marvel Adventures: Avengers
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-12 14:18:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9075985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panickyintheuk/pseuds/susanowa
Summary: The door to Tony's office opened, and a woman with straw-colored hair which seemed to defy the laws of gravity came through it. "See ya," she said over her shoulder, then gave Steve a huge grin and an exaggerated wink as she left.





	

**Author's Note:**

> For square Y5 on my bingo card, 'crossover: marvel verse/non-marvel verse'.
> 
> A bit of a jump forward from the last installment. There were originally intended to be a couple of stories in between, but they didn't want to get finished. I might slot them in later, we'll see!

"He's just finishing up a meeting," said Bambi. "He won't be long."

"Oh, okay," said Steve. "How are you?"

"Oh, soldiering on! And yourself?"

"Really good," said Steve honestly. Tony had slept over last night, and Steve had woken up with the scent of him in his nose and the weight and warmth of him in his arms after a restful night's sleep, and it was only a few hours later but he was already excited to see him again, and in the meantime he'd been to the gym and then gone for a walk and done some sketching in the park. It was a great day.

The door to Tony's office opened, and a woman with straw-colored hair which seemed to defy the laws of gravity came through it. "See ya," she said over her shoulder, then gave Steve a huge grin and an exaggerated wink as she left. Tony remained in the doorway, looking nonplussed.

"Who was that?" asked Steve.

"Only the coolest person I've ever met in real life," said Tony, a little dazed-sounding. "Present company excepted, of course."

Steve rolled his eyes as he stepped into Tony's office. "You don't have to lie to me, Tony," he said. "I know I'm not cool." He gave Tony a peck on the lips once the door was closed, although he was fairly sure Bambi knew about them anyway. Still, Tony wasn't out, and you couldn't be too careful.

"Of course not. I was talking about myself," Tony said cheekily.

Steve didn't bother trying to suppress his indulgent smile. "So who was she?"

"Dr. Jillian Holtzmann -- she's part of this new specialist supernatural task force. Remember that thing in Times Square that we missed because the Xontaan ambassador had an allergic reaction to Namor's liquor and started releasing spores?"

Steve did. Somehow Thor had made it there in time for the big finish while they'd still been stuck cleaning up, and he still hadn't let them hear the end of it.

"Well," Tony continued, "the tech they used to take care of it was _off the hook_. Turns out Holtzy designed it. I'm kind of insanely jealous."

"Are you saying she's a better engineer than you? I may faint."

"Not _better_ , but y'know, she has a different background, different perspective. I figure if we put our heads together we could learn a lot from each other."

"That sounds good," said Steve. He knew it came out sounding a little flat, but he couldn't help it. It was great that Tony had someone to get excited about engineering with -- he had Bruce to talk science with, of course, and there were Hank and Reed Richards, but it sounded like what this Dr. Holtzmann did was much closer to Tony's interests. Steve was happy for him, but at the same time, it felt like a part of Tony's world he'd never really have access to.

"Also, she's a lesbian," said Tony, seemingly apropos of nothing.

"That's nice?" said Steve.

"Okay," said Tony slowly, "so _that's_ not what's bothering you. What's up?"

"I just wish I understood more about... what you do."

"Yeah?" asked Tony, with a slight frown. "I'm always happy to talk it through with you. I just didn't think you were that interested."

"I'm always interested in your life!" Steve protested.

"Well, sure, but that's not exactly the same thing."

"It's a big part of your life."

"Yeah," said Tony, "and there are parts of your life that I'll never really understand -- the war. Art, frankly. I mean, I love your art, but I'm never going to be able to look at a Rothko and see what you see. That's okay, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Steve, "but you still comes to galleries with me, and listen when I talk about it."

"And you come down to my workshop and do a really admirable job of not glazing over while I use you as a rubber duck. So we're even, right?"

"It's not exactly a hardship. I like getting to spend time with you, and seeing you in your element like that." That was an understatement. The challenge wasn't so much staying alert as it was not tackling Tony over a bench, frankly. Which was definitely against lab safety rules, especially if Tony was holding a blowtorch at the time.

"Well, ditto, buddy. Hey, come here," he said, and when Steve moved closer he grabbed his chin and pulled him in for another kiss, firm and sweet. "I don't have a single complaint about the way things are going, okay? You make me really happy."

Steve's heart felt as though it was pounding against the bars of his ribcage, trying to get out. _I love you_ , he thought, _I love you_. "I --" he started, but his voice was a croak, and it was too early to say it, he _knew_ it was. It was getting harder and harder to keep it to himself, but he wanted so badly to do this right. "I'm happy too," he said instead, which was true, but so painfully inadequate.

Tony idly stroked a finger across Steve's cheekbone and smiled. "Good. Let's get lunch, huh? What are you in the mood for?"

"Anything," said Steve. _As long as I'm with you._


End file.
